A man claims the New Boston fire marshal wrongly disconnected the electricity from his tenant’s building, causing his tenant to go out of business and him to lose rental income.
Bayan Ghazzawi filed a lawsuit May 20 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas Texarkana Division against the city of New Boston and New Boston Fire Marshal Ronald Clark.
In his complaint, Ghazzawi alleges Clark entered his premises at 309 E. Hoskins St. in New Boston for a fire safety inspection Dec. 23. At the inspection’s conclusion, Clark informed Ghazzawi’s tenant, Yaser Hamed, there were numerous fire safety hazards, according to the complaint.
When Ghazzawi was provided with a list of the alleged fire hazards, including a roof leak and excessive paper and trash, he immediately hired a contractor to fix the problems, the suit states. By Jan. 10, all of the alleged deficiencies included in the report had been corrected, the complaint says.
Because of Clark’s actions, Ghazzawi’s tenant has been unable to operate his business. In turn, Ghazzawi has lost rental income and has lost market and business value in his property, the suit states.
Ghazzawi contends the defendants wanted to shut down Hamed’s business and searched for a reason to do so, thereby violating the U.S. and Texas constitutions.
He accuses the defendants of negligence and conspiracy for abuse of power.
Ghazzawi is seeking actual and consequential damages, plus attorneys fees, costs, pre- and post-judgment interest and other relief the court deems just.
He is being represented by William W. Miller Jr. of Greer and Miller in Texarkana.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas Texarkana Division case number 5:14-cv-65
This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas Texarkana Division. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note that a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt, and it represents only one side of the story.